Propelling apparatus for vessels.



L. Y. SPEAR; .PBOPELLING APPARATUS FOR VESSELS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30- I915.

Patented Oct. 10,1916.

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GODDESS A ITOR/VEVS L. Y. SPEAR.

PROPELLING APPARATUS F ORVESSELS.

wwgwxs APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30. I915.

Patented Out. 10, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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L. Y. SPEAR.

PROPELLING APPARATUS FOR VESSELS.

APPLICATION man MAR. 30. 1915. 1

Patented Oct. 10, 1916.

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uvm/m ATTORNEYS A 1 [hm/6858 Z DMM UNITED STAE TENT OFFICE. I 7

LAWRENCE YORK SPEAR,- 0F. GROTON, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T0. ELECTRIC BOAT T 0 all whom 2'25 may concern 1 Be it known that I, LAWRENCE ,Y. SPEAK, a citizen of the United States, residing at ,Groton,in the county of New London and State of'Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Propelling Apparatus for Vessels; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the.

sion of "essels operate at their best economy only when running at a particular speed and developing a given amount of power. By reducing the speed of the propelling en- 'gine and hence the rate of movement of the vessel, the resistance offered to movement of the vessel is generally reduced to a greater degree than is the speed of the engine; therefore, if the engine operated with its maximum efficiency at the reduced speed, such reduction in the sp ed of the engine would result in increasing the'cruising radius obtainable with .a given supply of fuel. The fact is, however, that the efliciency ofthe engine falls off very consid erably when its speed is reduced and as a result, the cruising radius with a given supply of fuel cannot be materially increased in this Way.

This invention involves the provision of a plurality of engines of difierentsizes for propelling the vessel, and means whereby these engines may be utilized in the propulsion of the vessel under such conditions as will result in operating the engines at high efliciency so that the cruising radius of the given supply of fuel vessel obtainable with a will be increased.

In accordance with the invention, the propeller shaft is adapted to be driven by an engine or by an electric motor supplied With current from astorage battery, asis usual,

New YORK, N. A CORPORATiON generator O'F NEW. JERSEY. ii

' saop ttmc trus ees ron vznssniisl Serial No. 17,972.

in the propulsion apparatus of submarine boats. In addition to, these parts, a second engine, preferably of a smaller size, is pro-. v ded and also a second dynamo-electric machine, thismachine being'arranged to be by the motor supplied with current from the storage battery or electrically by the motor supplied with current from the driven by the second engine. liurthermore, the auxiliary mechanism usually employed in'connection with the main engine, such for instance, as the air compressor and the Water pump used with an" internal combustion engine of the Diesel type, is so arranged as to permit of conif T siidifiatidilbf a rami- Patented Oct. 10,1916. Application filed March 30, 1915.

necting them to the second engine or disconnecting them therefrom 'as desired, Whetherthe second engine-beutilized for actuating the generator or not. -\Vitl1 such apparatus, the vessel maybe propelled at high speed by the main engine with the latter operating at that speed at which it deyelops its highest economy. Compressed air and cooling Water are supplied to the main engine by the compressor and pump, these being driven by the second engine, which. is also arranged to operate at the speed at which it is most efficient. For propelling the vessel at a slightly reduced speed, the load of-the auxiliary apparatus for the main engine, that is the air compressor and pump. is transferred'from the second engine to the main engine to permit of discontinuing the operation of the second engine; This may be done by employing themotor "on the pro peller shaft as'a generator dri en by the main engme and supplying current to the dynamo-electric machine which is normally driven as a generator-by the second engine. This machine is disconnected from the sec-- ond engine and is operated as a m0t0r connected in driving relation to-theair compressor andrpump. For propelling the vessel at a further reduced speed, the main as a generator supplying current to the mo- .tor onthe propeller shaft,

' A construction embodyingthe invention is illustratedin the accompanying drawings,

which -Figures 1 and 2 are horizontal and vertical sections of a portion of a submarine boat; Figs. 3 and 4 are views similar to Figs.

1 and 2, respectively, and forming extensions thereof; and Fig; 5' is a diagrammatic view showing the connections between .the

several elements of the apparatus.

Referring to these drawings, the hull "of,

a submarine boat is indicated diagrammatically at 6. Twin propellers 7 are=provided for the propulsion of: the boat, these being mounted at the stern on the projecting ends of the propeller shafts 8, which rotate in suitable bearings mounted upon .the frame of the boat. In the drawings, duplicate prooperating upon theDiesel cycle. The shaft of this engine is mounted in alinement with the propeller shaft 8' and is adapted to be in alinement with connected to the propeller shaft and disco-nnected therefrom at will by a clutchlO. The propeller shaft also carries thearmature of a motor 11, which may be employed for propelling the vessel, current being supplied to it from storage batteries in the usual way or from a generator'as hereinafter described.

' Cooling water is supplied to the jackets ofv the engine 9 by a pump and compressed air is'supplied to the inlet valves of the engine by an 'air compressor. Thesetwoauxiliary devices are arranged to be driven by a second engine, which engine is moreover so arranged that 1t may be utihzed for propelhng the vessel at low speed. he second engine is shown at 12. For utilizing this engine in propelling the vessel, the connection to the propeller shaft is made electrically by em ploying the engine 12 in driving a dynamoelectric machine 13 as a generator and conducting the currentfrom the generator to the motor 11 to operate the latter. The shaft of the generator 13 is arranged in alinement with'the shaft ofthe engine 12 and the two may be connected and disconnected at will by a clutch 14:. The air compressor above referred 'to is shown at'l5. This air compressor is preferably mounted with its shaft the shaft of the engine 12 and with the generator 13 between it andthe engine 12 and a clutch 16 is provided whereby the shaft of the air compressor may be connected to and disconnected from the shafts of the generator 13 and engine 12 at Will. The Water pump 17 is arranged adjacent to the air compressor 15 and driven by a back-geared shaft 18 from the shaft of the air compressor. The shaft 18 is connected-toitsdriving'gear by a clutch 19 so that the operation of the water pump. maybe controlled asdesired.

A reservoir 20 for'compressed air is'con-' nected to .the outlet from the compressor 15 by a pipe 21 and to the inlet valves of the several cylinders of the main engine 9 by a pipe- 22 so as to supply air to the inlet valves for forcing the liquid fuel into the cylinders.

' The water pump 1'? is connected by a pipe 23 to the cooling jackets of the cylinders and the outlet for the cooling system is connected by a pipe 2% leading to the sea and the (latter, is connected by a pipe 26 to the pump 17. "Also, wires 27 connect the generator 13 to the motor 11, and connect the circuit of .these parts to the storage battery 28, .suitable switching and protecting devices 29 be- 1ng 1n'serted' in these connections as is indicated 111 F 1g.

\Vith the parts thus constructed, the vessel may be propelled at high-speed by means of the main engines 9 operating those engines at their most economical speed and connecting the engines to the propeller shafts 8 by meansnof the clutches 10. During such operation, compressed air-and cooling water would be supplied to the main engines by the auxiliary devices 15 and 17.'these being driven by the small, engines 12. -'For this purpose, the clutches 14,16 and 19 would be connected to permit the small engines to drive the auxiliaries.

upon the driving engines.

If itwere desired to proceed at lower speed or to discontinue the operation of'the' smaller engines for purposes of inspection.

repair, etc., the load of the auxiliary-devices would be transferred from the smaller engines 12 to the larger engines 9. This would be done by disconnecting the smaller engines 12 at the clutches 14 and closing the The circuit 2? would be open so that though the arinatures'of the dynamo-electric machines 13 and 11 would be rotated, they would not impose loads circuits of the machines 11 and 13 so that the machines 11 would be driven as generators by'the engines 9 and would supply current tofthe machines 13 so as to operate the latter as motors which would drive the auxiliaries through the clutches 16 and 19.

For propelling the vessel at low speed. the main engines 9 may be discontinued and the auxiliary engines 12 utilized for propelling the vessel with the engines 12. operating at the speed'at which high efficiency is attained. For proceeding inthis manner, the main engines 9 are disconnected from the propeller shafts by the clutches 10 and the auxiliaries are disconnected from the smaller engines 12 13 by the clutches ill and 1! The smaller c11 chines 13 as generators supplying current through the wires 27 to the motors 11 on the propeller shafts- Itis thus apparent that whether the vessel be propelled at high speed by the main engines 9 or at low speed bythe smaller engines 12, the propelling engines will be run at the speeds at which they operate with the greatest eliiciency and as a result the maximum cruising distance Will be obtained with a given supply of fuel.

\Vhat 1 claim is:

1. In a vessel. propelling apparatus comprising the con'lbination of a propeller shaft, a main engine, means for connecting the engine to and disconnecting it from the shaft, a d v1mn1oelectric machine adapted to drive the shaft, a second engine, a dynamoelectric machine adapted to be connected to the second engine, apparatus adapted to be driven by the last named dynamoelectric machine when the latter is operating as a motoraud electric connections between the two machines for operating either as a generator and the other-as a motor; substantially as described.

In a vessel, propelling apparatus comprising the con 1bination of a propeller shaft, :1 main engine, means for-connecting the en- 'gine to and disconnecting it from the shaft, :1 d vnainc-electric machine adapted to drive the shaft. :1 second engine, a (lymi'mo-electric machine adapted t'o be connected to the second engine. electric connections between the two machines for operating either as a gen erator and the other as a motor, and auxiliary apparatus for the main engine adapted I11 be connected to the dynamo-clectric machine which is driven by the second engine;-

an electric motor adapted to drive the shaft, a second electri motor, means for connecting the. same electrically to the first motor when the latter is operated as a' generator by said shaft, and auxiliary apparatus for the engine driven by said second motor; sub stantially as described.

4. In a vessel, propelling apparatus comprising the combination of a propeller shaft, a main engine, means for connecting the engine to and disconnecting it from the shaft, a second engine, auxiliary apparatus for the main engine, means for connecting the second engine to the auxiliary apparatus to (lrive'the latter, and means whereby the second engine may drive the propeller shaft; substantially as described.

5. In a vessel, propelling'apparatus comprising the combination-of a propeller shaft, a main engine, means for connecting the engine to and disconnecting it from the shaft, an electric motor adapted to drive the shaft, a second electric motor adapted to be operated by said motor When the latter is driven as a generator by the propeller shaft and auxiliary apparatus for the engine adapted to be connected to the second motor; substantially as described.

6. In a vessel, propelling apparatus com prising the combination of a propeller shaft, a main engine, means for connecting theengin'e to and disconnecting it from the" shaft, an electric motor adapted to drive the shaft, a second engine, a generator for supplying current to said motor, auxiliary apparatus for the main engine, and means whereby the second engine may drive either the generator or the auxiliary apparatus; substantially as described.

in testimony whereof I afhx my signature, in presence of two Witnesses.

lnilVRENCE YORK SPEAK.

Witnesses F. L. BRAKE, \V. D. Fnsnnn. 

